Twas The Night Before Christmas
by ScandalousDreaming
Summary: Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, four creatures stirred, not a single one was a mouse. Olivia and Fitz sat around and told the story of how sixteen years ago, they were put in the bad parents category. They panicked while their young children wailed, even in the year 2017, as parents they still failed.
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you enjoy!**

 **Christmas Eve, 2017**

"Honey, dinner was delicious as usual." Fitz complimented his wife of sixteen years on her culinary skills.

Their two sons were in agreeance with their father as they licked their plates clean.

"Thanks, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it."

Olivia rubbed the back of her husband's head with one hand while she used the other to collect his plate.

"Kaiser, help your mom with the dishes please." Fitz told his sixteen year old son.

The young man rolled his eyes. He didn't mind helping his mom clean up. He actually enjoyed spending time with her. He just wished his parents (mostly his dad) would stop confusing him with his twin brother, vice versa.

"Dad, I'm Kaiden." He pointed to his look alike, sitting in the chair beside him. "He's Kaiser."

Fitz leaned back in his chair and studied the two of them. To this day he couldn't tell them apart. It didn't help they always got the same haircuts, spoke the same, dressed the same, acted the same, were the same height, had the same personalities, same style, same interests, same hobbies, same mannerisms, and the same taste in girls. They were basically the same person only there were two of them. They got a kick out of being identical twins and used the fact that they had a replica to their advantage every chance they got. Their parents had their hands full with them though they were good kids who were goofy and loved to pull pranks on people, sometimes each other.

"How the hell am I supposed to know the difference between you two when you guys are infamous for swapping places?"

"Uh, we've been alive for sixteen years. You mean to tell us after all that time you still can't tell the difference between your own sons? You had sixteen years to figure it out." Kaiser back talked.

"Watch it." Olivia muttered to him, gently popping him on the back of his head as she leaned over him to grab his plate.

He looked up at her and smiled. She returned his smile and pinched his cheek. Between their good looks and charm, Kaiden and Kaiser rarely ever got in trouble. They could probably get away with murder, although not encouraged to test that theory.

"Well since I know who is who right now…" He looked at Kaiden. "...go help your mom with the dishes."

"But dad, you told Kaiser to help mom with the dishes."

"Yeah, but he was looking at you." Kaiser interjected.

"It doesn't matter, he said your name."

"It does matter. He meant you. He was looking at you so he obviously was talking to you."

"You look exactly like me so your case is weak."

Olivia and Fitz rolled their eyes. When their sons weren't being two terrible terrors to society, they were fighting with each other. Fitz interrupted their argument over who was going to help their mother.

"Enough!" He addressed the both of them. "Since I looked at you and I said your name, both of you guys are gonna clean up the table and wash the dishes while your mom and I relax in the family room."

"That's not fair." Kaiden disputed.

"Actually it is." Fitz countered matter-of-factly.

Less than eager to, Kaiden and Kaiser did what they were told while their parents digested a wonderful home cooked meal in the den. They joined them in there once they finished their chores.

"Can we open a present now?"

As tradition, on Christmas Eve, they were all allowed to open one present. Fitz checked the time on his watch. It had just turned nine. Fitz thought it was late enough, so he gave them permission to open only one present and couldn't be the biggest one.

"Yes!" The twins cheered.

They grabbed not the biggest presents with their names on them from underneath the Christmas tree. Olivia and Fitz watched them with smiles on their faces. Olivia pulled her phone out to record them while Fitz had a loving arm thrown over his wife's shoulder. The boys tore through the wrapping paper like it was nothing. Kaiser got the pair of black and university blue Air Jordan 6s "UNC" that he so badly wanted. Kaiden got the red Black Pyramid space hoodie 2.0 with the matching space pants to complete the outfit.

They both jumped up and down with excitement. Olivia and Fitz laughed at their reactions. The boys wasted no time thanking and hugging their parents for getting them one of the items on their very long and expensive Christmas wish list.

"You guys are the best parents ever!" Kaiser announced while he tried on his fresh new sneakers. Kaiden agreed.

"And don't you boys forget it." Olivia jokingly admonished.

Kaiden and Kaiser gave each other knowing smirks. They wouldn't be them if they didn't use the opportunity to mess with their parents. Suddenly their smiles turned into a deep frown. Their parents instantly caught on to their change in mood.

"What's wrong?" Fitz inquired with a frown of his own.

"Nothing, it's just that…" Kaiden started.

"You gave us the wrong presents." Kaiser finished.

"What?!" Olivia and Fitz yelped.

They could've sworn they got it right this year. Usually they wrote the wrong twin's name on the present their brother wanted and not only on Christmas either. They made the same mistake on the twins' birthday too.

"Kaiser wanted the BP space hoodie and pants."

"And Kaiden wanted the Air Jordans."

"Dammit." Olivia mumbled underneath her breath. Speaking louder for her sons to hear, "Guys we're really sorry. We really thought we got it right this time."

As hard as they tried to keep the joke going, they gave in, laughing hysterically.

"Relax, we're just playing with you. You did give us the right presents." Kaiser said as he doubled over in pain from laughing so hard.

Olivia grabbed a throw pillow and like the name she threw it in their direction, hoping to at least hit one of them. Her nothing short of terrible aim caused them to laugh harder. Well… as long as they were happy then she and Fitz were happy.

"I can't believe you guys fell for that." Kaiden teased. He high fived his brother. "You guys are the best parents ever but seriously how can you not be able to tell the difference between us?" Kaiden asked.

"You know who you are, that's all that matters." Fitz rebutted.

"Do we really? What if I'm actually Kaiden and Kaiden is actually me? What if you guys confused us as babies and we're not who we were born as?"

Olivia pointed to him, "You are Kaiser."

Fitz pointed to Kaiden, "And you are Kaiden."

"Am I?" They asked simultaneously.

"Are you sure I'm Kaiden?" He challenged.

"Positive." Fitz said confidently.

"So you mean to tell me neither of you mixed us up ever?" Kaiden inquired and Kaiser piggybacked off of him.

"Not even as babies? Ha, I doubt that. You can barely distinguish the difference between us now. I can only imagine how bad you were when we were babies. I bet you mixed us up all the time."

Olivia and Fitz exchanged a guilty look. Of course they had but they didn't want their kids to know there was a good possibility that they weren't who they thought they were.

Fitz cleared his throat, "We may have confused you a couple of times when you guys were little."

Olivia scoffed. Fitz was going down and there was no way she was going with him. Nope. He could never get who was who right. She obviously made that mistake a few times when they were much younger but over the years she'd gotten better. She had her own ways of telling her babies apart. She shared them with her husband but he never followed her methods. As a result, he didn't know who his sons were. The only reason their presents were usually switched was because of Fitz. After sixteen years she finally learned her lesson.

"Oh no no no no no no, we didn't do anything. It was you. You were the one who screwed up their identities when they were only eight weeks old."

She threw him completely under the bus with no hesitation. Fitz whipped his head at her so fast he almost gave himself whiplash.

"Livvie!"

"What?"

"Is that true?"

The twins questioned, taking a seat on the floor, facing their parents. They anticipated story time and gave their full attention, not wanting to miss a single detail.

Sheepishly, Fitz rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well…"

* * *

 _ **Flashback to Christmas Eve, Sixteen Years Ago...**_

Fitz was in a bit of a predicament. One, new first time parents (usually fathers) to identical twins often find themselves in. See, he thought it would be cute to dress his twin boys in the same white onesies with "I'm Just So Elfin Cute!" written on the front of them in red and green cursive lettering. He blamed his festive mood for forgetting the number one rule his wife made when dealing with their children - never EVER dress identical twins identical unless he had a way of telling them apart.

It was Christmas Eve. Christmas was Fitz's favorite holiday. He loved this time of year. Twenty-five full days out of three hundred sixty-five, he was in high spirits and nothing or no one could break his holiday cheer. In fact, he tried to spread it as much as possible. That's why there was a party in full swing downstairs that he and Olivia decided to host at their house this Christmas Eve. Their families and closest friends were in attendance and some would be spending the night. They would stay all the way until noon the next day.

But if he didn't hurry up and figure out which twin was which, Fitz wouldn't live to see the next day. Dammit, why did he have to have super sperm? Why couldn't he and his wife have one baby at a time? He loved both of his sons equally but they were already double trouble at only two months old. He didn't even want to think about what kind of monsters they were going to be when they got older.

Gosh, he had to admit they were a pair of cute little monsters though with their perfect curly light brown hair and their perfect olive skin and their perfect wide gray eyes and their perfect thin lips and their perfect dimples… they were perfect and he wouldn't change a single thing about them. Well… maybe just one thing. If he could, he would maybe change one of their eye colors or give one of them a birthmark. Anything really that could help him differentiate the two.

"Okay, daddy made a rookie mistake. I mean I am a rookie at this parenting thing but I need your guys' help. My life depends on it. So, if you're Kaiden I need you to do something - spit up, fart, cry, kick your legs, yawn, blink, punch your brother, rob a liquor store. If you're Kaiser, don't move. Don't do anything."

Neither of the twins moved. They only stared up at their father in wonder.

"You guys really want to grow up without a father, don't you? Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuys." He pleaded.

He was desperate and internally freaking out.

"Fitz? What are you doing?"

Olivia's voice startled him. He quickly spun around to see her standing in the doorway of the nursery with her arms folded over her chest.

"Uh, bonding with my boys. Ya know spending a little guy time with them." He said in a shaky, unconvincing voice that exposed his nerves.

He was definitely up to or hiding something and Olivia was going to find out what that was.

"You're supposed to be changing _your_ _boys_ ' diapers." She reminded him as she ventured further into the room.

"I am. I mean I did." He immediately corrected himself. "We had guy time while I changed them."

"Uh huh." She said slowly. "Did you put Kaiden in the red onesie and Kaiser in the green one like I told you too?"

"Um, about that…"

Before he could explain what had happened, Olivia had already reached him in front of the changing table. She looked over at their sons and immediately noticed several things wrong. Number one:

"Fitz?"

"Ma'am?"

"Where are the boys' hospital bracelets?"

"I took them off. They were really tight."

"I know they were but I was going to wait until tomorrow morning to take them off. For Christmas I got them custom gold bracelets with their names engraved on them. You took their hospital bands off, now how am I supposed to know which bracelet to give them?"

"How was I supposed to know that? It's not like you told me."

"I'm telling you now." Olivia snapped at him.

"Liv-"

She cut him off, "I swear you don't do anything right."

Fitz was a slightly offended by her comment and felt the need to defend himself from her insulting words.

"That's not true. For instance, you ruined my marriage proposal. I planned this super cool and romantic proposal and you just had to ruin it by proposing to me first."

Olivia snorted humorlessly. "You can't even blame me for that. If you would've given me a well thought out proposal the first time, you wouldn't have felt obligated to a do over. I still can't believe you proposed to me while I was in the middle of giving birth. Not on any of our anniversaries, not when we first found out I was pregnant, not before my water broke, not when I was in labor for twelve hours. No, you waited until I was pushing your babies out of my vagina to ask for my hand in marriage. I mean who does that?" She did her best impersonation of him. "I know right now isn't really the best time but will you marry me?"

"In my defense I didn't want to bring our children into the world out of wedlock."

"I was in the process of giving birth, Fitz. There was no way possible we could've gotten married in that moment so your proposal was pointless."

Shortly after the twins were born, Olivia and Fitz tied the knot. Their wedding was very small and very simple but not any less special than a huge, expensive one.

Fitz held up his hands. "You were pushing two babies out, we had time. And hey, I tried to make it up to you by going above and beyond. I even bought you those expensive ass rings I'll probably still be paying off in my afterlife."

Olivia shook her head. Their conversation was going nowhere but in a continuous loop. It didn't even matter because they were off topic anyway.

"I can't believe you removed the bands that allowed us to know which twin is which. To make matters worse, you dressed them in matching onesies."

"You dress them in matching clothes all the time." Fitz pointed out her hypocrisy.

"Yeah but I also write their names on the tags of their clothes so I don't get confused. Question Fitz, did you write their names on the tags before you took off their hospital bracelets and put those onesies on them?"

"No."

"My point exactly. You couldn't have waited until they were old enough to know their own names before you mixed them up?"

"Look how adorable they look though."

Olivia glance down at her baby did look adorable in their onesies. She couldn't deny that.

"They do look adorable. Too bad we can't tell one from the other. Great now when the boys get older they're gonna ask us if we ever mixed them up."

Fitz stood directly behind her and placed his hands on her shoulder to help comfort her.

"And I'll tell them what I'm about to tell you… it was an honest mistake."

* * *

 **Present Day**

"Wait… so you dressed us up in matching onesies after you took our hospital bracelets off?" Kaiser asked incredulously, shaking his head.

There was no way his dad could've been that irresponsible.

"Who cares? Before, after, it doesn't matter. The bottom line is dad took our bracelets off without knowing another way to tell us apart." Kaiden said to his brother before he went back to acknowledging his parents."What happened after that? Were you guys able to figure out which twin we were?"

Olivia nodded, "We were."

"How?"

"We may or may not have had a little help…"

* * *

 _ **Flashback - Christmas Eve, Sixteen Years Ago..**_ **.**

Olivia turned around to face him.

"I would knee you in the balls right now if they weren't so high. Why do you have to be so damn tall?"

Fitz shielded his crotch with his hands and took a long step back. "You kneeing me in the balls is not gonna solve the problem." He tried to rationalize with her.

"No, but it'll certainly make me feel better." She took a step closer to him. Fitz gulped. "Calm your balls, I'm not gonna do it."

He released a sigh of relief. He wanted more children in the future and being sterile due to trauma to his testicles would take away his ability to impregnate his extremely beautiful and feisty wife.

"Now what? What are we gonna do? How are we supposed to tell which one is Kaiser and which one is Kaiden."

Fitz shrugged, "I don't know."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The newlyweds looked over at the open door. Both of their mothers were standing in the threshold.

"What's taking you two so long? Is everything alright?" Maya Pope asked them.

"Yes." "No."

Olivia and Fitz replied simultaneously. They looked at each other then back at their mothers.

"No." "Yes."

Clearly they weren't on the same page.

"Okay, what's going on?" Evelyn Grant probed as she and Maya walked over to their children and grandchildren. "Awwww, the boys look so cute!" She gushed over the twins.

Maya rubbed Kaiden's leg. The same leg where his hospital band was supposed to be on.

"Um… where Kaiser's bracelet?"

Evelyn did the same to Kaiser and was met with the same result.

"Kaiden's doesn't have his on either."

Neither of them knew they said the wrong names. How could they?

"How do you know who's who?"

An awkward beat passed. Evelyn and Maya were not stupid. Their children's silence was all they needed in order to know what the problem was.

"You two don't know who is Kaiser and who is Kaiden, do you?"

They shook their heads.

Maya looked between the two of them. "So, whose bright idea was it to remove their bracelets and dress them in identical onesies."

Olivia pointed to Fitz. "Fitz's."

Evelyn smacked his arm.

"Ow, ma."

"How could you be so careless, Fitzgerald?"

"I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your sons."

"I'm sorry guys." He apologized to them.

Olivia combed her fingers through her curly mane. "We don't know what to do. Kaiden and Kaiser weigh just about the same amount so it's not like one looks chubbier than the other. They have no blemishes, no moles, nothing we can use to tell them apart. They even have the same personalities."

"I think I know a way to figure out who is who." Maya stated.

"Me too." Evelyn said.

"We'll try both ways to see if they work. Olivia, Fitz, each of you pick up one of the twins."

They did. They waited for their next command but never received one.

"What do we now?" Fitz inquired.

He like Olivia was confused.

"We wait."

Evelyn smirked. She caught on to what Maya was trying to get at.

And wait they did… a whole minute. Nothing happened.

"What are we waiting for? Nothing's happening."

BINGO!

"Exactly." By the looks on their faces, Olivia and Fitz didn't understand. She guessed she was just going to have to tell them because if she didn't she had a feeling they'd never know. "Liv, Kaiden prefers to be held by you. It usually takes him a few minutes to get settled in Fitz's arms. Fitz, same thing goes for Kaiser. He prefers when you hold him. He doesn't squirm when he's in your arms. Liv, you're holding Kaiden and Fitz, you're holding Kaiser." Maya proudly stated.

"Mom, how do you know that?"

"How else? I'm observant."

"No offense mom but I don't think this is really a good way to determine the twins' identity."

Maya threw her hands up in surrender. She needed her partner in crime to turn their stubborn kids into believers.

"Fine." She turned to her best friend. "Eve, how are you able to tell the twins apart?"

"My method takes a little more work. Kaiser and Kaiden may act very much alike but there is one thing that one absolutely detests and the other does not. Lay them back down." They did and looked to her for their next move. "Strip of their clothes."

"Why?" Fitz asked his mom.

"You'll see, just do it."

They complied.

Loud, shrilling cries pierced the ears of everyone present in the room. Said cries belonged to Kaiden Elijah Grant. The second Olivia unzipped his onesie and the air made contact with his warm skin, Kaiden made his displeasure well known. If there was one thing he hated, it was being undressed.

"Maya was right. Liv, you have Kaiden and Fitz, you have Kaiser."

"Told ya." Maya gloated with her arms folded.

Evelyn went on to explain, "Kaiden hates being naked. Kaiser could care less whether or not he's wearing clothes. Fitz used to be like that when he was a kid. He would run around the house in his birthday suit without a care in the world."

"He still runs around the house in his birthday suit without a care in the world." Olivia mumbled.

Fitz heard her and elbowed her in the arm. She glared at him and rubbed the ache out of it.

"I can't believe Fitz and I never noticed that." Olivia said as she comforted her upset baby.

Kaiser didn't like the lack of attention he was receiving while his mom tended to his brother and the other adults conversed. He too started crying.

"Alright, daddy's got ya. Quit squawking."

Fitz picked up Kaiser and rocked him in his arms.

* * *

 **Present Day**

"Wow, so Nanny Evelyn and Nanny Maya helped you guys figure out who we were?"

Kaiser was amazed and impressed by his Nannies' attentiveness..

"Way to go Nannies." Kaiden cheered but stopped abruptly. Something still didn't add up. "Hold on, how come you still got us confused if you knew how to tell us apart?"

"Because once we learned how to, you guys decided to change up on us not long after. Kaiden, you began squirming in my arms and Kaiser, you hated being naked." Olivia informed them.

To hear her words out loud, they didn't quite sound right to her or the boys. Fitz was unusually quiet. Olivia noticed that too. She sideyed him.

He chuckled nervously, "I'm in the mood for some hot chocolate. Is anyone else?"

"I am." Kaiden and Kaiser answered at same time which was a common thing for them to do.

Fitz nodded and stood up.

"Fitz?"

"Yeah?" He turned to her.

"Sit down."

Shit. He was done for and he had no way of escaping. He slowly sat back down.

"You don't want hot cocoa?"

Olivia stared at him with a blank expression on her face. Man, he wished she'd say something. Her silence was deafening. He'd rather hear her yelling at him than hear nothing at all.

"Liv?"

"No, I don't want hot chocolate. I want to know why the next day after you first mixed up the twins, Kaiden very rarely cried when we changed his diaper and Kaiser all of sudden did."

"Uh… what had happened was..."

* * *

 _ **Flashback - Christmas Day, Sixteen Years Ago…**_

It was Christmas! The day Fitz and a whole lot others had been waiting all year for. This Christmas was an extra special one because it was Olivia and Fitz's first Christmas as a married couple and as parents. They were excited for their sons' first Christmas especially Fitz. Unfortunately, his usual levelhead was up in the clouds powdered with sheer joy.

Having already been up for a little under an hour and showed no signs of falling back asleep, Fitz decided to go check on the twins. They were usually awake by now. Just as he sat up, the sound of Kaiser and Kaiden cries echoed through the baby monitor.

"I got them." He told his wife and got out of bed. "What's wrong with daddy's little offsprings hm? Do you guys need to be changed? Okay, daddy's on it right now." He cooed as he stood in between their cribs.

He individually picked them up and laid them on the changing table. They were still wearing the onesies he bought for them. Fitz wasn't worried about taking them off to change them. He first removed Kaiser's onesies and placed it right next him. Fitz knew he was Kaiser because he checked the tag that Olivia wrote their son's name on last night. Fitz prepared himself for the fit Kaiden was surely to throw. His onesie was placed beside him too. So far, so good. Fitz still knew who his twins were. Kaiden, who was screaming his head off, was on the left and Kaiser was chilling on the right.

Afraid he'd wake up the rest of the house, Fitz decided to change Kaiden first, so he'd stop crying. He flinched at both the sight and the stench of the mess Kaiden made in his diaper. A mess that needed to be cleaned with something more than a few wipes. Something like a bath. He undressed Kaiser as well. Using two different colored markers (red and blue), Fitz put little marks on their hands so he would be able to know who was who. Red for Kaiser and blue for Kaiden.

Bathing twins was not an easy task to do alone, however, Fitz was determined. He did his best to make it quick because now Kaiser was becoming impatient and fussy. It was bad enough, Fitz had one baby cursing him out, he wasn't trying to hear two. He made sure he was thorough. He washed every surface and crevice on their bodies. Not a spot went unmissed. By the time he finished, they were squeaky clean, not a single speck on their bodies.

Being clean and having good hygiene is typically a good thing. In the twins' case… that wasn't a good thing at the exact moment in time. Once again, Fitz found himself in the same predicament he was in the night before. Thanks to his carelessness, he couldn't tell his twin boys apart and had no way to. He tried to use his mother-in-law's method but both boys were bawling their eyes out instead of just Kaiden, so that obviously didn't work. He tried his own mother's method but neither of them would keep still in his arms. They wiggled as they cried.

Taking a guess and praying he was right, Fitz put the red and green onesies on them like Olivia told him to do last night. From that moment on, Kaiser threw tantrums whenever he was getting changed and Kaiden had the opposite reaction. Also, from that day on, Kaiden preferred to be held by his father while Kaiser preferred to be held by mother. Of course those things stopped as the boys got older which made telling them apart a lot more difficult. Plus the amount of times they had been switched… it's more than likely they had the wrong identity.

* * *

 **Present Day**

"Seriously Fitz?!"

As badly as she wanted to punch Fitz, she refrained for the sake of their children. No way did she want to teach her sons domestic violence was okay even coming from a woman no matter how much the man (Fitz) deserved to get his ass handed to him.

Kaiser and Kaiden were not concerned about being subjected to spousal abuse. They had far more things to worry about like their identities for instance. There was a strong possibility they could have the wrong name - be the wrong person.

"Let me get this right...I'm supposed to be Kaiser and Kaiser's supposed to be me?" Kaiden inquired.

Fitz hesitated to answer but he and Olivia have always been honest with their kids.

"There's a fifty-fifty chance you could be."

The boys were stunned speechless by the revelation. They weren't necessarily mad. They sort of figured there was a chance their identities had been mistaken at some point in their lives. Them being mixed up by their parents and others was understandable and it wasn't like they made it easy for people to differentiate one from the other.

"Kaiser? Kaiden?"

Kaiden nodded to his brother, silently appointing him as their spokesperson.

"We're fine, really." He reassured them. "We just need a little time to process this."

"I'm really sorry guys."

Without another word, the boys collected their Christmas (Eve) presents and made their way to their bedrooms.

"I can't believe you tricked me. My poor babies. They couldn't even enjoy their first Christmas as themselves because their father was inattentive."

Now that Kaiden and Kaiser were out of sight, Olivia could finally punish her husband. She slapped his shoulder, which hurt her more than it hurt him.

"Livvie, I said I was sorry. How many times am I supposed to say it? I'm sorry, okay?. I'm sorry I was so irresponsible." His apology was sincere. He felt awful for what he'd done. If he could go back to that day, he would handle the situation differently if he could but he can't. He can't change or fix the past but he could fix the now. "I was young and new to parenting. I've improved over the years."

Olivia agreed with his statement, "You have. You're a great father, Fitz. You just made a stupid, _stupid_ bonehead mistake… and I forgive you for not telling me the truth sooner preferably as soon as it happened. I know you love them and I know you'd never purposely do anything to hurt them."

"But…"

He was waiting for her to state all of his flaws now. That's usual how those type of conversations went.

Olivia shook her head. "There's no but. Not this time at least." She winked at him and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "Let's go to bed." She whispered against his lips and stood up.

She offered Fitz a helping hand. He took it and allowed her to pull him up on his feet. With his hand in hers, she guided him upstairs after shutting off all of the downstairs lights. Together they went to the boys' individual rooms. First they went to Kaiden's. Before entering, they knocked, several times only to be met with silence. Olivia opened the door to Kaiden's room void of him.

"He must be in Kaiser's room." She assumed.

They walked across the hall to their other son's room. Olivia knocked on the door. "Come in!" They heard seconds later. Olivia opened the door to find both of her teenage sons playing Injustice 2 on PlayStation 4.

"We're going to bed and wanted to wish you boys a goodnight."

"Goodnight." They said together, distracted by the game.

"Um excuse me. That's not how we say goodnight in this house." Olivia reprimanded them.

"Moooooooom." They groaned in protest but still paused their game. They got up to properly say goodnight to their parents.

"Guys, again I'm really sorry." Fitz apologized to them for the… he lost count how many times.

"About that… we talked and we decided that we want to get tested. We want to know once and for all who we are." Kaiser spoke for both he and his brother.

"Is that even possible?" Fitz asked.

"Carey did it on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Kaiser stated.

"I told you that you let them watch too much TV when they were younger." Olivia said to her husband who in return said...

"There's that but."

"Shut up, Fitz." She swatted his arm. "Alright guys, good night."

"Wait mom, what about us getting tested?"

"You're father and I will discuss it tonight and hopefully have an answer for you guys tomorrow, deal?"

They looked to each other, communicating without words, and back at their parents. "Deal."

"Okay, we love."

"Love you too."

"Don't stay up too late." Fitz told them.

She and Fitz gave each of the twins hugs goodnight before they retired in their bedroom (at the other end of the hall) for the rest of the night.

* * *

Olivia stood in front of the full length mirror, located in the corner of the room. The red tank top she wore was lifted up past her stomach so it was full display. Her right hand rested on her abdomen. It was still very much flat but that wouldn't be the case next week or the many weeks to follow. She swiftly pulled her shirt back down when she heard the ensuite bathroom door open. She turned to see her husband emerge from the bathroom, clad in nothing but his favorite red and green flannel pajama pants. After all these years, he still looked the same. His body was more toned and his hair wasn't as curly but damn he aged like fine wine.

He smiled at her as he approached her. "Hey you."

"Hi." She smiled up at him.

Fitz brought his lips down to his hers. Having just finished brushing his teeth less than a minute ago, his breath was minty fresh. Remnants of the leeky linguine with shrimp Olivia made for dinner, could no longer be tasted on his tongue.

"We should do something that requires the both of us to be naked." Olivia suggested, suggestively dragging a nail down his bare chest and slipped her hand into the waistband of his pants. To add to her ministrations, she bit her lip. She knew what that did to him. It drove him absolutely crazy.

Fitz moaned. His rocket ship was up and ready for take off. Between Olivia's touch and her lip biting, he thought his ship might malfunction before it could even get off the ground.

"What'd you have in mind?" He smirked.

* * *

"This was a great idea." Fitz said in absolute bliss.

His head was thrown back, eyes closed, and body ache free as he basked in the feeling of Olivia's velvety skin pressed against his. She sat in between his legs while they took a hot bubble bath together. The late Whitney Houston's angelic voice serenaded them from their iHome.

"It was." Olivia sighed, contentedly. The back of her head rested against his chest. "I forgot how good this feels."

"It has been awhile. We should do this more often."

"We definitely should."

A comfortable silence fell upon them. The only sound that could be heard was the music softly playing in the background.

"Babe?"

"Hm?" He hummed.

"Do you think we should allow the boys to get tested?"

His eyes opened and he lifted his head to look at her. He had given it a lot of thought. As soon as they brought it up, the wheels in his head started spinning.

"If that's what they really want to do then I'm all for it. They're sixteen years old, sweetheart. They're old enough to make these kind of decisions on their own, don't you think?"

"I do. I just hate that they're growing up so fast."

"I know, me too."

Fitz caressed her arms and she shivered from his touch.

"Your hands are cold."

"I'm sorry, it's because of the water. You ready to get out?"

"Yes, but I don't feel like moving."

Fitz stood and stepped out of the tub. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He grabbed another for his wife and wrapped it around her body after helping her out of the tub. They dried their bodies off and threw on the same nightwear they had on prior to taking a bath, climbing into bed afterwards.

Olivia turned on her side, with her back to her husband. She waited for him to slide over to her side the bed and wrap his arms around like he did every night... except tonight. She looked over her shoulder to see him flipping through channels, searching for a Christmas movie to watch. It wasn't hard to find one since it was Christmas Eve and there was one playing on just about every channel. The problem was picking one out of the variety of them.

He was in the mood for a comedy. Maybe he'd watch Home Alone or Elf or Almost Christmas. Bad Santa always had him in stitches, although he did enjoy the sequel just as much. Maybe he'd stick to classics like It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story. There were so many great ones and he couldn't decide among them.

"Fitz, I want to spoon." Olivia pouted as she faced him.

"And I want to fork." He responded sarcastically while he continued to channel surf.

Olivia snatched the remote from his hand, using it to turn off the TV.

"Hey, I was watching that!"

"You can watch the back of my head while we cuddle." She told him as she turned over.

He grumbled lowly under his breath, "I can never do what I want."

Fitz got settled behind her and pulled her into his embrace.

"Babe, do you really think we mixed up our kids?"

Ever since Fitz admitted to what he'd done sixteen years ago, Olivia had been feeling like the worst mother. She should've done a better job. She should've been more careful. She should've monitored her husband better after the first incident.

"There's no doubt we did. I just hope we switched them back to their right selves."

"I feel so bad. Kaiden and Kaiser seem to be taking this whole thing well but if they aren't who they were born as? How will they react? Will they be okay with it? Will they be pissed - devastated? Will they flip out?"

Fitz inhaled and exhaled deeply, "I don't know. We're just gonna have to wait and find out."

Find out they did after New Years.

* * *

Olivia held up a yellow envelope with the twins' DNA results in it. She, Fitz, and their sons were sitting in the kitchen. Being the adults they were and wanting to set a good example, Olivia and Fitz sat on stools, at the island. Kaiden and Kaiser opted to sit directly on the island's countertop. As joke, for over a week the twin known as Kaiser pretended to Kaiden and the twin known as Kaiden pretended to be Kaiser, an idea they yet again got from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

"Okay guys, your test results are in this envelope. Are you ready?" They both nodded. "Now listen guys, no matter what the results say…" She pointed to them as she spoke to them individually. "...you're still Kaiden and you're still Kaiser, got it?"

"Got it."

"Will I still be Fitz?" Fitz teased, earning him laughs from the twins.

A giggling Olivia playfully bumped shoulders with him.

"Zip it you. Alright, let's get this over with." She hesitated. "Before we do this-"

The three Grant men groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Oh no, she's gonna talked." Kaiser grumbled.

Olivia heard him and arched her neatly trimmed eyebrow. She was giving him the look. The look that scared him, his brother, and his father. The look that told them they were in trouble. That look. He hated that look.

Addressing no one in particular, "As I was saying… this is very important." Again she did the pointing thing to let them know she was talking directly to them. "Even if you're you and you're you, your father and I will still love you even if he's you and you're him."

"Um… huh?" Kaiden was supposedly the smarter twin but even he couldn't follow that.

Fitz, being able to relate to his boys since he was a guy, put what she said in simpler terms so they could comprehend.

"Basically what your mother's trying to say is we'll still love regardless if you're not who you're supposed to be."

"Oooooh." Now they understood.

Fitz nodded to Olivia to open the folder. She did and pulled out the results. She took a moment to read them. The amount of time it took for her to do so was merely a minute, a minute too long for the others in the room.

The twins inquired eagerly.

"Well?"

"What do they say?"

"Who's Kaiden and who's Kaiser?"

Kaiden raised his hand. He was on the right of her. "I'm Kaiden."

Kaiser did the same, "I'm Kaiser." He was on the left.

Olivia fought hard not to crack a smile. She wanted to keep them in suspense for a few more seconds. With a straight face, she finally told them what they wanted to hear… the truth.

"You guys are exactly who you're supposed to be."

"WOOHOO!"

The boys high fived. They along with their parents were beyond relieved.

Kaiser went up to Kaiden, "I'm just glad we can go back to our regular classes. If I bombed another algebra test, you would've probably failed this semester." He admitted.

"Run." Was all Kaiden said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm giving you only three seconds to escape before I pummel your face in. On-"

Before he could finish counting, Kaiser was sprinting out of the room. Kaiden didn't waste any time chasing after him.

"When I catch you I'm gonna shove my foot so far up your-"

"Language!" Olivia called out.

"Sorry mom!"

"Do you feel better now?" Fitz asked his wife.

"I feel so much better. Now that we know who they are and they know who they are, it needs to stay this way. I don't know how we did it but we had them right all along."

Ever the pessimist, Fitz scoffed. "No we didn't. We're just good guessers."

Olivia corrected him. "No, we're good parents."

Now that, Fitz agreed with. "Yes we are and we did a pretty damn good job at raising them."

"We sure did." Olivia looped her arms in his left and laid her head on his shoulder.

"And we only two more years left to go." He stated.

"Actually…"

She picked her head up so she could look him in the eye when she told him the news she'd been trying to find the perfect way to tell him for two weeks. She realized there was no perfect way nor perfect time. Taking a deep breath she informed him…

"... we have two plus eighteen more years to go."

Fitz was shocked. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but even he understood what she meant.

"You're… we're… we…"

Aw poor guy, he couldn't get the words out, he was so overcome with emotion - happiness, to be more specific. Olivia nodded, confirming what he was trying to ask. A wide smile spread across her face. Her cheeks hurt from cheesing so hard. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her barely there baby bump.

"Get ready Fitzy because we have to do this parenting thing all over again."

It may have taken sixteen years but they were finally going to be parents for a second time. They just prayed God didn't bless (curse) them with another set of identical twins.

 **Merry Twinmas! See what I did there? Lol. I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

Under The Tree

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **Christmas Eve Eve, 2009**

As soon as Olivia entered the house, one of her eight year old son's sprinted passed her, completely unaware of her presence. No sooner, so did a football.

"Stop throwing the football around the house before you guys-"

Before Olivia could finish scolding them, Kaiden beamed the ball at his brother whose hands it flew through and hit the Christmas tree, successfully knocking down and breaking several fragile ornaments. The boys immediately froze. Each took a cautious peek at their very annoyed mother. Olivia breathed deeply in and out while she counted to ten.

"Oops, sorry mom." Kaiden softly apologized.

"I'm sorry too, mom." Kaiser added.

Kaiden and Kaiser both knew how to act when indoors. They knew better than to play ball inside the house but she wasn't as mad at them as she was her husband, who was supposed to be watching them.

"Where is your father?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"He's taking a nap upstairs." Kaiden snitched.

"He's taking a nap upstairs." Olivia reiterated incredulously. "Clean this mess up." She told them, referring to the toys strewn all over the den. "Don't touch the broken ornaments, your dad and I will clean that up and don't think you boys are off the hook. We'll discuss punishments later."

Olivia left them to it while she made her way upstairs to deal with her biggest baby. She prayed God gave her the strength not to suffocate him in his sleep. When she entered her bedroom, Fitz was right where the twins said he was, doing exactly what they said he was. He actually looked silly wearing Nerf safety glasses and cuddling with a Nerf gun. Without waking him up, Olivia extracted the gun from his loose grip. She checked to make sure it was loaded before taking aim and firing.

Fitz immediately jolted awake. He thought the boys came back for another war and felt the bed for his weapon to defend himself with.

"Looking for this?"

His wife's voice made his body go cold as blood drained from it. He looked up to see her standing at the end of the bed with the gun pointed at him daring him to make a move. He swallowed.

Sheepishly, "Uh… hey Livvie. How was work?"

"It was great. In fact, my whole day was going great until about five minutes ago when I came home to a mess and our sons playing football in the house, breaking shit while their father was sleeping instead of discipling them." She spat sarcastically.

"I'm sor-"

"Save it, the boys already said that. Fitz, how am I supposed to trust you alone with them if things like this happen?"

"Livvie, I-"

Again he was interrupted but this time by light knocks on the door.

"Come in."

The knob slowly turned and the twins poked their heads through the cracked door.

"We cleaned up ours toys like you told us to." Kaiser informed his mom.

"Okay, thank you guys."

He pushed the door open wide enough for he and his brother to enter the room. Although hesitant, he and his brother were going to take full responsibility for the house being in disarray.

"Mom, please don't be mad at dad. It's not his fault." Kaiden lowered his head in shame as he confessed, "It's ours. We made the mess not dad so if you want to be mad at someone, you should be mad at us."

"Yeah." Kaiser agreed with his brother.

Fitz got off the bed and walked over to his boys. He knelt down to their eye level.

"Guys, I appreciate you stepping up and taking responsibility for your actions." He told them, meaning every word.

"Does that mean we're off the hook." A hopeful Kaiser tried his luck.

Olivia hated to burst his bubble but… "No. You guys are still in trouble. Go to room and no TV or playing with your toys."

With both of their heads bowed they left to go to their rooms.

"Liv, I think you're being a little hard on them. They're just excited. They're on break from school and it's almost Christmas."

It was a rare occurrence when Fitz was right and even more rare when Olivia admitted he was. This was one of those rare times.

Olivia sighed, "You're right. I am being a little hard on them. I can't punish them two days before Christmas for being excited. The last thing I want to do is kill their holiday cheer."

Now, she really felt bad. Damn Fitz and his logic.

"I agree."

"I'll go talk to them. Can you sweep up the ornaments that broke?"

Fitz nodded and headed downstairs to do his part. Olivia walked down the hall to Kaiden's room. She knocked on the door and waited the few seconds it took for him to open it.

"Come with me."

They took a step across the hall to Kaiser's room.

"Kai, can we come in?" She asked him through the door with his name printed on it.

"Yes."

Olivia opened the door to find him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I have to speak to you boys. Kaiser, sit up please. Kaiden, go sit next to your brother."

They did as their mother said. Olivia pulled the chair from Kaiser's desk and rolled it in front of them, afterwards, taking a seat in it.

"Do you guys know why I sent you to your rooms?"

"Because we broke the rules." Kaiden offered.

Olivia nodded, "And what rules did you break?"

"We threw a football in the house which we're not supposed to do." Kaiser said.

"Right. Daddy and I spoke and we agreed to let you guys off punishment because it's almost Christmas and we don't want you guys to be a couple of Grinches."

"Yaaayy!"

The boys, still sitting, bounced up and down with excitement. Olivia, unfortunately had to cut their celebration short. She knew her sons. They were always scheming.

"That doesn't mean you guys can do whatever you want because it's the holidays. You only get one pass and you just used it so no more breaking the rules or you boys will be grounded for a week regardless if it's Christmas. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." They answered together.

"Alright." Olivia was satisfied with their responses and her parenting. "Put on your coats and boats, we're gonna go outside and play in the snow for a little bit."

Kaiser and Kaiden cheered and hopped off the bed to get ready. Olivia went downstairs to inform her husband of their plans. Of course he was on board. Christmas was his favorite holiday and winter was his favorite season.

The minute they all stepped foot outside an immediate snowball fight ensued. It started off as every man for themselves but they quickly teamed up. Kaiser went with Fitz and Kaiden with Olivia. Kaiden's team hid behind cars and trees while Kaiser's team build a fort in the snow to take cover. Since no one kept score, there were no winners. Due to the low evening temperature, the Grants only spent about an hour outside before they went back in.

They changed out of their wet clothes and changed into warm pajama sets. Afterwards, settling in the den to sip on creamy hot chocolate and relax as a family of four.

"Mom, I know we apologized earlier but we just wanted to say we're sorry for messing up part of the tree again." Said Kaiden, who was snuggled into her side.

Olivia kissed his forehead.

"Awww, thank you. I accept your guys' apologies. Your dad actually did worse to the tree when you boys were only a year old."

"Olivia..."

"Really?"

"What did he do?"

The twins were eager to hear how their father ruined the Christmas tree.

"Well…"

* * *

 _ **Christmas Eve, Seven Years Ago…**_

Why Olivia trusted him to watch two babies by himself, was beyond Fitz. Did she not learn her lesson last year when she allowed him to change their diapers unsupervised. The good news was he wasn't in the same predicament thanks to the bracelets on his sons' wrists. The bad news was one of the twins had a cold and they were not happy about it. The twin known as Kaiden was the one who was under the weather and currently screaming his head. Part of the reason being he was also naked. Fitz was in the process of changing him, a process that took longer than it should have. If weren't for Fitz stopping every two seconds to push Kaiser's walker away from the Christmas tree, he would've been done by now.

"Okay Kaiden, daddy's almost done... Kaiser, no." Fitz sighed frustratingly.

Kaiser was being a little nuisance. No matter how many times Fitz scolded him, he kept pulling on the tree. When Fitz took him out of his walker and placed him in his highchair, he had a full blown meltdown. Fitz then took him out of his highchair and placed him in his crib. Still, the water works wouldn't stop. He was going out of his mind listening to his babies' sobs. Eventually he put Kaiser right back in his walker and instantly the crying stopped from him.

Deciding to just let him do his own thing, Fitz continued changing Kaiden. After all, Kaiser was only one years old. Fitz doubted he could pull an entire Christmas tree down. Boy was he wrong. Just as he sealed one side of Kaiden's diaper, he heard a loud crashing sound followed by Kaiser's cries. Fitz looked across the room to see the Christmas tree had actually fallen over on top of his son.

His first thought was the obvious… to run over there and get the tree off of his son. His second thought was to teach his little spawn a lesson and let him stay under the tree until he was finished with Kaiden. Fitz chose the latter. As a parent, it wasn't his best nor proudest moment but Kaiser kind of deserved it. Maybe next time he'll listen. What Fitz didn't anticipate was his wife coming home at that exact moment. He didn't hear her come in because the twins cries were deafening. Olivia followed their wails into the den.

"What's with all the- FITZ!"

There had been plenty of times Olivia wanted to kill Fitz throughout their relationship. Never had she ever actually considered it until this very moment. Being the good mother she was, she waited until after she removed the tree off of her son, made sure he was free of injuries, and comforted him to unleash her wrath on her husband.

* * *

 **Christmas Eve Eve, 2009**

"Wow, gee thanks dad." Kaiser said sarcastically.

"You so deserved it." Was Fitz's reply.

Kaiser wanted revenge and it didn't take long for him to plot it.

"Mom, I know you gave us only one pass but can we maybe get another one?"

Olivia shrugged, "Depends… what do you have in mind?"

Kaiser walked over to her and whispered in her ear. A mischievous grin immediately spread across her face.

"Okay, but I'm only giving you one more pass. That's it. Deal?" She whispered back to him.

"Deal."

They shook hands to validate their agreement.

"What are you two conspiring over there?"

Fitz wasn't oblivious. He knew how both of them operated and knew they were up to something.

"Nothing." Kaiser snickered.

Kaiser waved Kaiden over to him. Olivia distracted Fitz. Kaiser whispered his plan to get their dad back, in his ear. He nodded as his way of telling his brother he was in. Kaiden walked back over to where his parents were sitting on the couch without Fitz even noticing.

"Hey dad, wanna wrestle?" Kaiden asked him.

"Let's do it."

They moved the coffee table to make more room and to avoid bumping into it, possibly breaking it. Kaiser stood off to the side by the tree while his carbon copy and father rolled around on the floor. Kaiden pinned his dad on his back and got off of him. As soon as he did that, Kaiser knocked the tree over. Oh how the tables had turned… Fitz was now under the tree.

 **Author's Note: When I was 1 years old, a Christmas tree actually fell on me so I was told. I was in my walker and I kept going over to the tree, yanking on it. My mom told me to stop and tried to prevent me from doing it but I was persistent. Her attention was divided between me and my two older brothers so she couldn't always be there to stop me. Long story short, I pulled the tree so hard it fell on me. It's the same one we still have - pathetic, small, fake and I love it. As punishment, my mom let it stay there while I cried for a few minutes lol. When she told me this story, I wasn't even mad because if you really really know me then you know I definitely deserved it lmao. Hell I know I deserved it. Well anyway… I hope you enjoyed! I hope everyone as a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY HOLIDAY!**


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